BRISBANE: Ever wondered how many cane toads it takes to make a pair of louboutin shoes, or how many barramundi have to be stitched together for a genuinely fishy evening-gown?
You need eight large toads for the shoes, 12 for a handbag and one for a key-holder. One large (or two small) toads make up a wallet.
For the evening gown, you are looking at about 50 barramundi.
These are some of the products made from skins being cured and tanned by the appropriately named Serpentine Leathers company in Townsville.
The tannery is processing about 1,000 sharks, 25,000 other fish and 10,000 sea-snakes a year for louboutin shoes, garments and assorted leather products. It will soon be doing the same thing to 2,christian louboutin heels,000 crocodiles.
The latest innovation is use of the cane toad. Serpentine has put about 2,000 to good use in recent weeks, and hopes to process 10,000 a year.
The company’s owner, Mr Laurie Morris, says cane-toad skin is "of a very high quality".
"We think people will catch on to this in a big way when they see and appreciate the end product," he said.
Most orders come from southern manufacturers which are getting requests from European tourists who crave a pair of toad-skin christian louboutins after seeing the creatures hop around their hotel foyer.
Mr Morris said there is a growing demand for toad-skin souvenirs,christian louboutin shoes, particularly wallets and key-holders.
Mr Morris employs "professional gatherers" to collect the toads. "If people want to get rid of them, we’ll be there to oblige."
The sea-snake skins are excellent for "soft-leather fashion products like ladies’ jackets and skirts," Mr Morris said.
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